1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an apparatus, and a method, for separating and supplying plates from a stacked plate assembly used in a production process for storage cells such as a lead storage cell.
2. Description of Related Art
A plate separating-supplying apparatus of plates from a stacked plate assembly used for separating plates one by one from a stacked assembly of a large number of negative or positive plates contains a number of steps. In a pre-stage process step of a so-calledxe2x80x9ccell element stacking step,xe2x80x9d an example for alternately stacking negative plates, positive plates and separators as cell elements of a storage cell, and supplying the plates to the next cell element stacking step is described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 3210/1967. In the apparatus of this reference, a stand is placed on a plate feed chain and a number of plates are rested against the slope of the front surface of the stand while slightly inclined from an erected state, and are gradually conveyed forth as a stacked plate assembly under such an inclined state. However, a suction device so arranged as to face the plates at the same angle of inclination as that of the plate rocks, sucks and holds the plate at the foremost position. When the suction device passes through a stopper, the plate comes off from the stopper and falls down to an intermediate receiver below the stopper. As this operation is repeated, the plates are separated one by one from the stacked plate assembly.
Besides the rocking type suction device described above, a rotary suction device is also known. This suction device uses suction disks on a peripheral surface of a vacuum drum and each suction disk rotates with the rotation of the vacuum drum and sucks and holds, one by one, the foremost plate on an erected or inclined state. The plate drops to a plate conveyor belt below the vacuum drum and is supplied to a next step.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 286515/1992 describes a plate conveyor apparatus having a construction in which suction disks are arranged on a rotary belt, each suction disk facing down sucks and holds one after another. The uppermost plate of a sacked plate assembly having a large number of plates stacked under a horizontal state while the rotary belt is rotated, and the vacuum is released when the rotary belt rotates to a predetermined position.
In the apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 3210/1967 described above, it is not easy to convey a large number of plates of the stacked plate assembly having them stacked under the inclined state while constantly keeping the same angle of inclination as that of the stand. Therefore, the angle of inclination of the foremost plate that is sucked by the suction device having a predetermined angle of inclination does not remain constant, and a difference from an angle of inclination of the suction device occurs frequently. Therefore, the foremost plate cannot be stably sucked one by one, so that the separating operation lacks reliability. Because the plate sucked and held by the suction device is brought into contact with the stopper and is then dropped, fall-off and damage of the active material of the plate are likely to occur.
In the rotary suction device also described above, the suction disks are continuously brought into contact with the opposing plates and sucked and held them while the vacuum drum is being rotated when they are provided to the peripheral surface of the vacuum drum. Therefore, the suction disks travel in an arcuate form and instantaneously come into contact with the plane of the plates and must suck and hold the plates at that instant. For this reason, the sucking and holding operation is difficult to attain and the rotating speed of the vacuum drum must be remarkably lowered. Alternatively, it is necessary to intermittently rotate the vacuum drum so that the sucking and holding operation can be made when the rotation stops. In either case, the number of plates separated per minute by the sucking and holding operation, or a so-called xe2x80x9cshot numberxe2x80x9d, remarkably drops.
This also holds true of the plate conveying apparatus described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 286515/1992 described above. It is difficult for the suction disks to suck and hold the upper surface of the uppermost plate of the stacked plate assembly with the plates stacked horizontally while a rotary belt is rotated, and the suction disks must be brought into pressure contact with the plate at the stop of the rotary belt that is intermittently rotated. Consequently, operation efficiency of sucking and separating the plates one by one from the stacked plate assembly unavoidably drops.
As described above, the prior art technologies cannot yet suck and separate reliably and at a high speed the plates one by one from the stacked plate assembly and cannot either transfer stably and satisfactorily the plates to a next process step. Therefore, these technologies are extremely unreliable, unstable and inefficient.
To carry out the continuous operation, using the apparatus of Japanese Patent Publication No. 3210/1967, a high level of skill is necessary for removing the stand while keeping the stacked plate assembly under the predetermined inclination state and then supplementing a new stacked plate assembly. In other words, this operation essentially relies on the level of skill of the operator.
Therefore, an apparatus of the kind described above has been desired that can eliminate these problems of the prior art technologies, can reliably separate one by one and at a high speed the plates from the stacked plate assembly and can supply them to the next process step.
An apparatus of the kind described above has also been desired that does not call for the skill of the operator, but can smoothly and satisfactorily supplement new plate stacked plate assemblies one after another without stopping the mechanical separating operation of the plates from the stacked plate assembly and can carry out this operation smoothly and highly efficiently.
The invention is an apparatus for separating and supplying plates from a stacked plate assembly. This apparatus can solve the problems of the prior art technologies described above, can satisfy the requirements also described above this apparatus can automatically carry out a highly efficient operation, reliably separating one plate by one even in a high-speed operation. The apparatus, according to the invention, comprises an elevation mechanism having a support table for supporting a stacked plate assembly for separation having a large number of plates stacked in a horizontal state from a lower surface. Separation suction disks are arranged above the elevation mechanism for sucking and holding the uppermost plate of the stacked plate assembly for separation supported by the support table of the elevation mechanism. A separation mechanism for moving up and down a blast rod having the separation suction disks is used. Rotary bodies positioned on the side of the separation suction disks and having rotary suctions disks arranged on a circumference with predetermined gaps are also used. A suction release mechanism for imparting a sucking operation for sucking and removing a separated plate from the separation suction disks and a releasing operation for cutting off the suction operation and releasing the separated plate through blast holes formed in the rotary bodies operates. A conveying-supplying mechanism for conveying and supplying the separated plate so released to a next step is used.
The invention further provides a plate separation-supplying apparatus for a stacked plate assembly that can mechanically supplement new stacked plate assemblies without interrupting the stable and high efficient separating-supplying operation of the stacked plate assembly described above. Further, it can continuously conduct this operation without calling for the skills of an operator. This apparatus further comprises a supplementing-conveying mechanism for conveying a standby stacked plate assembly having a large number of plates stacked in a horizontal state to a position of the support table of the elevation mechanism that is lowered. A relay-reciprocating mechanism is used for moving back and forth horizontal reception members for supporting a residual stacked plate assembly from a lower surface when the number of residual plates of the stacked plate assembly for separation becomes small. Further, disposed on the side of the stacked plate assembly for separation supported on the support table of the elevation mechanism is a relay-elevating mechanism for moving up and down the relay-reciprocating mechanism. The horizontal reception members are allowed to advance and to support the residual stacked plate assembly from the lower surface at a stage where the number of the residual stacked plates of the stacked plate assembly for separation becomes small. In the interim, the support table of the elevation mechanism is once lowered below a conveyor belt of the supplementing-conveying mechanism, is again moved up to support a stacked plate assembly for supplementation supplemented by the supplementing-conveying mechanism above the support table, and is further moved up to join with the lower surface of the residual stacked plate assembly.
The invention further provides a method for separating and supplying plates from a stacked plate assembly. This method comprises the steps of sucking and separating upwards plates of a stacked plate assembly having a large number of plates laminated under a horizontal state from the uppermost plate. It then sucks and removes the plate so separated by way of suction disks. Thereafter, it releases the plate from the suction disks and conveys and supplies the plate to a next step.
Furthermore, the invention provides a method for separating and supplying plates from a stacked plate assembly. This method can carry out the plate separating operation described above without interruption, wherein a new stacked plate assembly for separation is supplemented from below the stacked plate assembly when the number of residual plates of the stacked plate assembly for separation becomes small.